Our first stop was at the 4,000 islands just across the border into Laos. We spent three days in a sleepy little village there. These islands are made by the Mekong river delta, and are quite picturesque with the river flowing by.
We took the opportunity to hire a boat and went out to the Laos / Cambodia border to see the rare Irrawaddy river dolphins, so that was sort of neat. We did see a few, but our pics aren't great, so I won't bother posting any of them. Otherwise we rented bicycles and peddled around the island looking at some of the waterfalls, and other sights – like the old French railway and locomotive.
We took a bus (yes, I know – but options are limited) up to the capital city, Vientiane. Like a European city with its cathedrals, Vientiane is full of Buddhist Wats.
which in turn are full of monks in their iconic orange robes
The oldest wat in Vientiane (Wat Si Saket) is home to more than 10,000 Buddha statues:
Another of Vientiane's sights is Patuxai, Laos' less attractive version of the Arc d'Triumph. Apparently it was constructed from cement donated by USA for the construction of an airport runway. I guess the cement was more urgently needed for a “beautiful” victory monument.
We had hoped to travel further north in Laos, but running of out time we chose instead to jump into Vietnam. Yes – by bus again. But this was by far the best “sleeper” bus we've seen yet
...and good thing – the ride from Vientiane to Hanoi was 24 hours. And now we're in Vietnam, after just six days in Laos.
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